Tag Archives: Fiction

Writing isn’t just about having an idea – you have to know what to do with it

I’m sitting at the bar of a coffeeshop in Amsterdam, scribbling away. A man, standing next to me, gestures at my notebook and says: what do you write? I’m actually writing about my notebook, I tell him. Some people who … Continue reading

Posted in Essay, Fiction, Memoir, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

That tightrope moment in writing when stories either plummet or remain

Any story that’s going to be any good is usually going to change. I’ve been reading Alice Munro again. There was a point when I suddenly became afraid of the day I’d read all her stories and no more were … Continue reading

Posted in Essay, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Write of things you love

Three years ago, I spent a week in Shropshire and finally began to write of things I loved. These were memories of the farm I grew up on. For years, they’d been fidgeting as I sat down to work on … Continue reading

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The soft haze of mystery

The summer Jake turned fourteen, he caught a sudden glimpse of his aunt undressing – a roundness of flesh in between her body and arm as she removed her bra. His head fogged up, but through his blood came a … Continue reading

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Which Window? – Point of View in The Valley Walker

Written by West Camel For those of you keen to have your ebook given an editor’s review please leave a comment or pingback below and West will hunt you out! In his preface to the New York Edition of The … Continue reading

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First drafts: allowing the worm to navigate the soils of your mind

I decided to go on a retreat a few years ago. When people asked me why, I tried to explain, but always got a sense I’d left something out; I circled back to the beginning, tried again. Words followed words, … Continue reading

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What we write about when we write

A sheet of A4 is pinned beside the bar. It hangs loose against the stone wall. There’s an image of a four or five year old in an orange sundress. I notice a plaster at the top of her arm. … Continue reading

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The story of a room

Don’t believe anything you see. This is what the curator says as I enter the Whistler Room at Mottisfont Abbey – a line he repeats as more people come and go. I can hear the pleasure in his voice as … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Honesty, and how we might write

My thoughtful readers and all the pioneer bloggers out there have brought my attention to something. Firstly, the draw of honesty, and secondly, how we might write. Perhaps, they are the same thing. So far, my writing journey has lasted nine … Continue reading

Posted in Essay, Fiction, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Between two people

There are five or six girls, sitting on a bench in Christchurch meadow with notebooks on their laps. On the lawns behind are larger groups of students, in the city for the summer. Backpacks lie flung on the grass. I … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments